Little Star

· Coming Fall 2026 ·

DEBUT PICTURE BOOK

A picture book for dreamers of all ages

Written for children ages 4–8, and adults of any age.

A radiant young star sets out to find where she truly belongs, only to discover that the very light she was told to dim might be the one thing the universe needs most. Little Star is a story about belonging, brilliance, and what happens when you stop shrinking.

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THE STORY BEHIND LITTLE STAR

About ten years ago, I was finishing up a year-long certificate course in narrative therapy. The whole point of the course was learning how to sit with your stories and find the healing inside them, to be able to sit with others in the midst of theirs. We shared the deep, painful, and vulnerable parts of the stories and characters that shaped us, some of which I'd never shared before.

At the end of the year, we were each tasked with writing three words of affirmation for every person in our cohort. I was last.

There was a man in my group who, honestly, I hadn't connected with much over the year. I didn't know what to expect from him.

Instead of three words, he had written me a poem.

We were all in shock... including him.

It was the most seen I have ever felt.

There once was a star so bright, all the universe stared in awe

But the Star Council was jealous

"How is it she is brighter than we?"

So they conferenced and beat their chests, decided banishment would be best

And sent this threatening little star to the farthest corners of the darkest night

Ages passed it seemed, and then as if in a dream something

in the absence began to reflect her beam

"We saw your light from far away and had to come see for ourselves

The one they sent away

And now we see just as they did, though we won't fear Your beauty

Do you mind if we sit and stay and rest inside your brilliance?"

And with a nod that little star became the sun that held their orbit.

-By Bradley Cook

The poem had an innocence to it and I remember thinking it would make an incredible children's book someday. That poem, written by a man I barely knew, became the foundation for Little Star.

Sometimes it takes a stranger to help you feel seen. Sometimes it's a story.

That's my hope for this book: that it does for others what this poem did for me.